Christ Lutheran Parish

Faith to Move Mountains

The theme of the servant trip was: Move! What an appropriate theme it was! First we had to move from Ironwood, MI to Mahanoy City, PA. Then we had to move out of our comfort zone and go to new places and meet new people. Then we had to move from one kind of a project to another. But when we had time to pause it became clear that we weren’t the ones doing the moving; we were the ones being moved.

We were moved by all of the things we had in common with the people from that declining former mining town in Northeastern Pennsylvania. We were moved when we found out that the day we arrived was the last day of church for the second to the last Roman Catholic Church in a town that once had six. We were moved by the generosity of the people in and on whose houses we worked and those who housed and fed us along the way. We were moved by the members of the community who brought us goodies or showed their appreciation for our work by joining in on our projects. We were moved by the children whose rough exterior demonstrated the hard lives they live.

It is fair to say that we were ministered to as much as we ministered to others. The Youthworks! staff, who organized and facilitated the work, meals, and led our times of worship and devotion, ministered directly to the sixty or so youth and adult leaders who were staying in Mahanoy City. The other youth groups who were with us ministered to each other as they went about their work and lived in less than comfortable accommodations. But most importantly we were ministered to by the people of that community who put aside their pride and out of deep humility allowed us into their lives to do something meaningful. But most importantly we were ministered to by Christ who washed our feet and commissioned us to go into the world to serve as he served.

The week was not without difficulty, or sacrifice on the part of the youth or the adult leaders as we went about loving God and neighbor, but the struggles seemed to be made easier and the discomforts weren’t as irritating as they could have simply because God carried us when we were tired, hot, and in need of a shower and gave us the eyes to see that our faith was moving mountains. Maybe these were not mountains of rock and earth, but mountains of trust, goodwill, and concern for the least of these were moved in Mahanoy City.

My prayer is that the momentum and movement of this journey is carried forward into our own community. My hope is that the inspiration we have received is contagious and the renewal of our faith changes those we meet upon our return. My desire is that when people ask us how our trip was they forgive us when we say more than, “It was just great!” It was a life transforming experience. It was a daily encounter of the divine. It was a chance to meet Christ disguised as young children, as little old ladies, as nursing home residents, and as citizens of a declining town.

God bless you all for supporting this ministry.